Breaking Open the Doors
by sai555angelo
Summary: A slow developing relationship between Nico di Angelo and Will Solace. Solangelo. Set after BoO. Does not contain the events of the Magnus Chase series! This is my first fanfic. Constructive criticism and advice welcome.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

The sun was shining, the sky was a deep blue color; birds were singing, demi-gods were playing capture the flag, just a typical afternoon at Camp Half-Blood. The sun made Nico look paler than usual, but Nico decided that he didn't mind. He could deal with the sun. In fact, he welcomed it.

Nico walked back to the infirmary, relieved. He felt the weight being lifted out of his shoulders. He enjoyed the look on Percy's face when he told him that he was over him, and chuckled to himself. Today couldn't get any better. Once Nico reached the infirmary, he noticed Will waiting for him and smiled. Will's blue eyes glinted, amused at Nico's unusually good mood. _Well, I guess these three days won't be so bad after all he mused. _Will ruffled Nico's bat like hair and shepherded him to an empty bed. To Will's surprise, Nico didn't pull away. _How strange, Nico di Angelo letting someone touch him, without swatting them off like a fly? That was new_.

The two were walking close together, too close for Nico's comfort. Nico's skeletal butterflies intensified when he felt Will's hand brushing his, but didn't pull away. Nico was in too good a mood. He was still not able to admit to himself that a part of his wanted some human contact.

"Here you are one nice comfy bed." Will gestured to the empty bed with a proud smile snapping Nico back into reality.

_Breathe Nico!_ He chided himself.

He nodded at Will. "You just rest here for a while. I'll check up on you later" He added reassuringly.

Will was about to leave when he noticed the injury on Nico's arm. "When did you get this?" He asked grabbing Nico's arm tightly. Nico tried to push him off, but Will just ignored him.

"It isn't properly taken care of. I have to double check if it is infected or not." He muttered to himself.

He let go of his hand, and went to bring out his first aid kit. Nico pulled his injured hand as far away from Will as possible as soon as Will came back.

"Don't." He said glaring at him.

Will softened his gaze, and said "I'm sorry. I was surprised when I saw your injury. I promise I'll be gentle." He held his hands out in the 'I surrender pose' and Nico relaxed his arm. Will took it, and gently disinfected it. Nico winced at the pain.

"It's not too bad. It could be worse. You could have become a werewolf" he teased."Imagine that, the werewolf son of Hades. Absolutely terrifying!" He chuckled.

Nico rolled his eyes. Will continued "I wonder if you would become like Mrs.O'Leary, a shadow travelling monster from the Underworld."

Nico snorted, "Even as a dog, I would still be able to beat you in combat Solace."

Will laughed "Yeah, sure Death Boy. I could outrun you and your skeleton army any day." This caused both the boys to start laughing.

"Will!" someone called from across the infirmary.

"I guess that's my cue to leave. Behave!" Will commanded sternly. Nico only snorted in reply, and decided to take a nap.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The sun began to set, and Will was busy with treating the remainder of the patients. Luckily, none of the other demi-gods were in too serious of a situation. A couple of broken ribs, fractures and stitches that were needed, nothing too complicated for Will Solace. He was finished with his last patient when one of his siblings came up to him in a panic.

"Will, its Nico. Come quick." She said, pulling Will along hurriedly.

When Will reached Nico he let out a surprised OH! "This is not good" He told her.

Nico was thrashing about in the bed. Waves of darkness radiated from him. All around him, Will could smell death. The grass was wilted all around Nico. This must be what Coach Hedge was talking about Will thought silently.

He turned around to face his sister and she asked worried "What should we do?"

Will sighed and said calmly, "Leave this to me. I'll deal with Nico. You go help the other patients." Will walked through the darkness, and felt Nico's anguish.

His feelings are so powerful I just hope I can calm him down he thought to himself. When Will reached Nico, he grabbed Nico's hand tightly, and reassured him gently. He sent a small prayer to his father to help Nico, and the darkness around Nico began to die down gradually. Nico stopped thrashing around on the bed, and slept peacefully, with a tight grip on Will's hand. Will let out a sigh of relief and silently thanked Apollo for dissipating the thick darkness around Nico. Will tried to let go of Nico's hand, but Nico started turning in his bed violently. Taking a hint, Will pulled up a chair, and held Nico's hand firmly. "All right, you made your point. I won't leave." Nico looked completely at peace, and Will realized that his name suited him. When he was asleep, he really did look like an angel. He blushed, and began to hum quietly. After a few minutes Will's eyelids began to drop, and soon he fell asleep, with his head on Nico's bed, their hands still intertwined.

Nico awoke with a start. He scanned his surroundings and calmed down once he realized he was in the infirmary. He turned, and saw Will asleep right beside him, and looked puzzled. He noticed that he was holding Will's hand, and he blushed deeply. He tried figure out why Will would hold his hand, and it dawned on him. He turned beet red, and was thankful that Will was still asleep. He tried to reclaim his hand without disturbing Will, but failed.

Will stirred at the movement and woke up. "Nico? You awake?" He asked groggily.

Nico grunted in response.

Will, who became fully aware of his surroundings, got up suddenly. "What happened? Are you okay?" He asked, monitoring Nico's pulse.

"I'm fine." Nico snapped guardedly.

"Really? Not from where I was standing." Will retaliated angrily.

When Nico didn't open up, Will tried another tactic. "You mentioned Reyna's name." He said gently. Nico's gaze turned vulnerable.

"Reyna told me what I did to Bryce…" He started not able to look Will in the eyes. "If you knew, you wouldn't want to be friends." He said sadly.

Will looked surprised, but said "Don't make all those assumptions on your own. Just tell me what happened."

Nico began to spill the entire Bryce becoming a ghost incident, and once it was over he asked Will in a child-like voice "Do you hate me now?"

Will said patiently "If someone was trying to hurt you, or anyone I cared about, I would have done whatever I could to protect them. That's not wrong. And about Octavian, you were right. There was nothing we could do to stop it. So no, I don't hate you." He patted Nico on the back and smiled.

"Hey, I'm starving, let's go get dinner." He said energetically.

Nico nodded, and they went off to The Mess Hall. The two demi-gods ended up eating at the Apollo table despite Nico's protests.

"Aren't we supposed to sit in our own tables?" He hissed.

"No. You're my patient, so we'll sit together at the Apollo table. Doctor's orders." Will said firmly.

Nico relented and thought that it was nice to eat with someone besides Hazel for a change.

After dinner, Will dragged Nico back to bed. "Aren't you going back to your cabin to sleep?" Nico asked nervously.

Will snorted. "Yeah, because last time I left you alone you radiated waves of darkness. I don't know why, but when I came back, you calmed down. Must be an Apollo thing." He shrugged it off. "Anyways, I'll keep you company." He said easily.

He took out a book and began to read. Eventually both the boys fell asleep, and this time Nico slept soundly.


	3. Chapter 3

When Nico awoke the next morning, he noticed that Will was gone. He panicked for a few seconds, until he saw Will tending to patients across from him. Will walked up to him, and gave him a huge smile.

"Nice to see you're up sunshine, though you sure took your time." He said happily.

"Not everyone wakes up when the sun comes up" Nico muttered.

The day droned by lazily. Nico was very bored. He missed Will's company, and hearing him drone on about medicine, or music or whatever Will talked about. That boy was definitely a talker. Nico furrowed his brow. _What? He MISSED Will?_ No way in Hades. He noticed a blonde approaching him, and said "Are you done?"

"What?" He asked giving Nico a confused look.

"Oh. Jason, I thought you were… Never mind. What brings you here? Is everything okay?" He asked worried.

"Yeah. Everything is fine. I was looking for you, and heard you were in the infirmary. Is something wrong?" He replied.

"I'm fine-" he started.

Will walked over and said "Hey Jason. Nico's fine, just needs rest, so I put him under observation. Hey, when did you get glasses?" He asked curiously.

Jason laughed, "Well, I kind of visited Asclepius and he noticed-"

"Wow. That's amazing. I can't believe you met my brother! The god of doctors." Will said in awe. Will prattled along about how jealous he was, and how meeting Asclepius would help him on treating patients.

This lasted a good five minutes with Jason nodding politely, and interjected "Do you mind if I talk to Nico for a bit?" Will nodded, getting the message and walked towards the Stolls on the other side of the infirmary.

Jason waited until Will was out of earshot and asked cautiously "Does he know?"

Nico raised an eyebrow "Know what? Oh. No. Why?" he asked panicking.

Jason shrugged. "It seemed like you are friends. And, I heard that Will is a nice guy, so I'm sure" He trailed off not sure how to finish that sentence.

Nico scowled at him, but Jason noticed that the tip of his ears were red. Deciding he didn't want to be facing Nico's skeleton army anytime soon, Jason dropped the subject. "Hey, so I heard you told Percy about… I think he's looking for you." Jason said as delicately as possible.

Nico stiffened, and Jason noticed that the last time he looked like this was during the Cupid incident. "Don't worry, Annabeth, Piper and I will take care of it. But just remember, you are going to have to face his annoying whining soon."

Nico heaved out a huge sigh of relief, and gave Jason a small smile. "Thanks Jason. Smiling hurts." He complained. Jason laughed. After a while, Jason left, and Nico noticed that Will was still talking animatedly to the Stoll brothers, and casually looked (stared) at his direction.

Will muttered a small thanks and noticed Nico was looking at him. He raised an eyebrow, and walked over with a huge grin on his face. "Missed me?" He said triumphantly. Nico snorted in reply. Will pretended to look hurt, and Nico started to laugh. Once they calmed down, Will gave Nico a warm smile, and ruffled his hair. Nico closed his eyes, and relaxed at Will's now familiar touch. Will was secretly proud of himself, for making Nico laugh. He really just wanted to see Nico smile more often. _Too bad there's only one day remaining_ he thought to himself.

"Might as well make the most of it." He said out loud. Nico looked at him, puzzled. Will just shrugged it off. He noticed the Stolls return and beamed.

"I'll be right back." He said. He went to the Stolls, and muttered a few words, and received something. He put it in his pocket and smiled. The Stolls told him something, and Will just sighed. He walked back to Nico with a skip in his step. Nico looked at him questioningly.

Will just smiled and said brightly "You'll see. After you're better."

Nico groaned. "I'm bored."

Will smiled. "Well, there must be something you can do here to pass time. If you want, we can talk, I could amuse you with my rendition of popular songs. There are so many things you can do."

Nico looked thoughtful for a few minutes. "Hey, do you know anything about redecorating?" Will nodded enthusiastically. He grabbed some paper and pencils and handed it to Nico.

"It helps you visualize it if you draw it out." He explained. The rest of the day, the boys spent planning the re-decoration of Cabin Thirteen.

"Wait, so you are seriously telling me that you sleep in a coffin?" Will asked bursting out laughing.

"Yeah. I don't know who planned this, but I swear they will answer to my army." Nico muttered angrily.

"The Stolls better watch out then." Will commented.

Nico narrowed his eyes. "They are the ones that…?"

Will shrugged. "Must be. They love a prank. They probably thought you'd laugh about it."

Nico shrugged. "I don't get it."

Will just smiled. "Um. I have something for you." He started shyly.

Nico perked up, and looked at Will with surprise. "Why? It's not my birthday, or Christmas?" He asked.

Will shrugged, and said "First, close your eyes. No peeking." Now Nico was really curious. He raised an eyebrow, but complied.

Nico felt something land on his palm, and opened his eyes. "When you left… The Stolls stole it. I thought you'd like it back." Nico's face was frozen in shock. Will stiffened. After what felt like hours to Will, Nico looked up and his eyes danced with happiness.

"I- I don't know what to say. I know this isn't enough but thank you." Nico stuttered out. He held his old Mythomagic cards in his hands, and clutched them tightly.

"How did you know?" He asked.

Will felt the tip of his ears go red. "People do notice you, Nico. I remember your obsession with Mythomagic when you first came here. I saw you play it with the Hermes kids a lot. I thought, you'd like it back." He said gently.

Nico suddenly got up and hugged Will. It was awkward, but Will didn't mind. He was too busy being shocked at the fact that Nico di Angelo was initiating physical contact. Nico broke the hug awkwardly, and gave Will another grateful smile.

"Do you know how to play?" He asked hopefully.

"No. But I'm a pretty fast learner." Will replied.

The next few hours was spent on Will trying to learn how to play Mythomagic acceptably (passing Nico's impossible standards).

Once Will seemed to play decently well, Will stretched and commented with a cocky grin "Hey, it's getting late. Let's go grab dinner. I can beat you in Mythomagic afterwards." Nico laughed so hard, he could barely breathe.

As they approached The Mess Hall, talking animatedly together, Nico noticed Percy staring at him. Nico sighed, and told Will that he'd meet up with him at the infirmary in a few minutes. Will reluctantly left.

Nico walked up to Percy's table and said cheerfully "How's it going?"

Percy smiled back at him.

"Fine. Too bad I'm not your type." He added bitterly. "How can I not be anyone's type?"

Nico snorted and commented snidely "You're humility never ceases to amaze me." Percy laughed.

"So, we're cool?" He asked slightly nervous.

"We're cool. I meant what I said Jackson." Nico replied with a hint of a smile.

Percy said coolly "So, Will huh? You go for blondes? Not that I'm one to judge. Wait, is that why you are so close to Jason?"

Nico felt his skeletal butterflies reappear and said "Can it Seaweed Brain." Nico stormed off.

Jason, who was watching the whole thing smiled. He excused himself from Piper, and ran after Nico.

He cut Nico off and said "I'm proud of you. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

He ruffled Nico's hair affectionately. Nico blushed, looked down and mumbled "I don't know what you are talking about Grace." Jason laughed, and walked back to Piper with a smile on his face.

Nico hurried back to the infirmary.

Will's eyes brightened when he saw him, and said "Did you take care of it?"

Nico smiled and nodded in response. "I'm not going to hold back this time Solace." Nico warned, picking up his Mythomagic cards.

Will chuckled nervously, "You're kidding right? Nico?" Nico smiled broadly, and zipped his mouth shut. After many rounds of getting beaten, badly, Will let out a huge sigh.

"You are merciless." He complained.

Nico smirked, "I thought you were going to beat me." He teased Will lightly.

"One more game." Nico pleaded.

"No. It's late. You need sleep. Now." Will gave Nico 'the look' which effectively shut Nico up.

He's like Bianca when he fusses about eating and sleeping he thought. To Nico's surprise, the thought didn't sadden him. It made him appreciate Will's growing impact on his life.

When he realized Will was still sitting by his bed, he asked Will sleepily "Aren't you going back to your cabin?"

Will shrugged and said "I think I'll spend the night here. Just in case."

Nico flushed thinking about what happened the night before. "Uhm. You don't have to. I'll be alright." He started.

Will's glare silenced him. "I'm staying." Will said firmly.

Nico gave him a small smile, and let the familiar darkness envelop him. He had a peaceful dreamless sleep, and sometime during his sleep, he held onto Will's hand tightly. Will just smiled at him fondly, and went to sleep on his chair.


	4. Chapter 4

Will woke up early as usual. He saw the sun rise, and smiled. He carefully wiggled out of Nico's firm grip, and yawned. It never ceased to amaze him how Nico always managed to find his arm when he was asleep. He began his day, hovering over his patients as usual, when his sister came up to him.

"Hey. I've been meaning to ask, but how come the darkness didn't come back? Is there some special remedy? Some secret for healing the children of Hades?" She asked curiously. Will chuckled. "Nah. I just prayed to Apollo and the darkness slowly began to fade." He replied casually. He decided not to mention the part about him holding Nico's hand in order to calm him down.

His sister frowned. "I tried that too, and nothing happened." She told him. She looked thoughtful for a minute and smirked. "I guess the remedy had nothing to do with Apollo at all." She mentioned coolly.

Will furrowed his brow. "What exactly are you trying to imply?" He asked not liking her tone.

"Oh. Nothing." She replied with an infuriating grin. The more she thought about it, the more the puzzle pieces clicked together.

Will decided not to ask, and went about his day. When Nico woke up, Will greeted him with his usual bright smile and a cheerful "Mornin' sunshine."

Nico nodded acknowledging his presence and allowed Will to drag him to breakfast. The day started out relatively normal, Will and Nico eating breakfast together at the Apollo table until Jason showed up.

"Hey Jason" Will said with a small smile. "What's up?"

"I need to borrow Nico for a while." Jason said firmly.

Will raised his eyebrow. "Okay… But Nico is still recovering, so he needs to stay in the infirmary until he is formally discharged." The 'by me' was heavily implied.

Jason chuckled at how worried Will was about Nico.

"He'll be back soon." He promised. _I can definitely have some fun with Will_ Jason thought to himself.

Will sighed. "No shadow travelling. No raising skeletons, zombies ghosts or whatever. No Underworld-y stuff." He reminded Nico firmly.

Nico nodded not taking his eyes off his breakfast. His ear tips went red when Will worried about him. _I'm acting like a teenage girl_, he thought in disgust. He shook off the thought, and waved goodbye to Will following Jason to his table. Piper was at the table, and she waved to Nico with a shy smile. Nico nodded, acknowledging her presence.

To Jason, Nico asked worriedly "Is something wrong? What's going on?"

"Nothing." Jason reassured Nico with a smile. "I promised to spend time with you today. Well, actually we want to spend time with you." He corrected himself, glancing at Piper.

Nico got an uneasy feeling. His stomach was churning, and he felt that something was up but he didn't comment.

Piper looked at Nico, and Nico had a feeling that she _knew_. Piper knew everything. He stiffened, and Piper just regarded Nico warmly. He glanced at Jason, trying to scrutinize him. Jason looked puzzled, and just smiled. _He didn't tell her_ Nico thought. She must have figured it out on her own. _Must be an Aphrodite thing_ he thought annoyed. He sighed, _well there's not much I can do about it now_. Piper winked at Nico and gave him a reassuring smile. Nico blushed, and looked down at the ground. He took a deep breath, and relaxed. _I guess I have no choice but to trust her_ he thought. The three demigods headed to the Aphrodite Cabin.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, Will was puzzling over what happened in breakfast. Sure, Jason's Nico's friend, but why now? I wonder if something is wrong… A tap on his shoulder jolted him out of his thoughts. Will turned around and relaxed.

"Oh. Hey Lou. What's up?" He asked brightly.

Lou smiled back. "Not much. Just the usual, working on spells, beating the Apollo Cabin at Capture the Flag."

Will rolled his eyes. "Once. That happened once. You'll never let me live that down will you?"

Lou smiled. Her eyes scanned the room, and she frowned. "Hey where's Nico?" She asked.

Will raised an eyebrow. "With Jason. He'll be back soon" He replied.

"Hmm. That's too bad. I wanted to tell him embarrassing stories about you after the whole Battle of Manhattan." She said smiling wickedly.

Will groaned. "Why me?" He said dramatically.

"Hey, where's Cecil?" He asked.

Lou snickered. "He's probably hitting on the Aphrodite girl again."

Will laughed. "Don't you mean get trapped by the evil love potions? Or did he fall into the clutches of the malicious Aphrodite charm?" He asked amused.

Lou snickered. "You are always so dramatic when it comes to the children of Aphrodite." She said rolling her eyes. Lou shrugged. "I don't know… Wanna make a bet?" She said with a mischievous grin.

"Sure. If I win, you get Drew off my back." Will said solemnly.

Lou groaned. "She's hitting on you again? You'd think she'd take a hint. Sometimes you are way too nice. Wait, didn't you flat out reject her?" She asked

Will nodded.

"You know what you need? A girlfriend. Or a boyfriend." She said with a knowing smile.

Will rolled his eyes in response.

"Sure. I could turn her into a plant. Or I could make her smell like the New York sewers. I could dye her hair green. I could prevent her from wearing makeup" She grinned. This wasn't so bad, if she did lose she got to make Drew's life miserable.

Lou was thoughtful for a minute. "If I win, I want Nico." She said.

Will did a double take. "Wait, what?"

She realized how that sounded and blushed. "Sorry. No, that's not what I meant. I mean I want to hang out with Nico for the whole day. Alone." She said firmly.

Will looked at her like she grew another head. "I can't get him to do that! Ask for something else!" Will said incredulously.

Lou pretended to consider this for a minute. "No. That's what I want. I'm sure Nico will listen to you. I'm betting on the Aphrodite Charm." Lou said firmly.

Will let out a deep sigh. "Potion it is." He said resignedly. Will wasn't worried that Nico wouldn't listen; he was worried that _he would_. Lou was a nice girl too. _Stop being so selfish Solace!_ He told himself. He shook Lou's hand and sealed the deal.

"Jealous?" She asked with a smile.

Will snorted, but Lou noticed that his neck was bright red.


	6. Chapter 6

Nico approached the Aphrodite Cabin tentatively. He never liked the children of Aphrodite, they always giggled and gossiped all the time. He also didn't like the fact that Piper knew, and tried very hard not to think about that. Needless to say, he failed miserably. Jason and Piper kept giving him concerned glances, and only when Jason touched his shoulder tentatively did Nico realize that the grass under their feet all wilted.

Nico groaned and muttered a sheepish apology.

Jason and Piper smiled.

Nico became more aware of their surroundings, but continued to think about this new development. _Four people, that was a lot. At least he trusted three of them wholeheartedly, but the children of Aphrodite weren't exactly known to keep a secret. Despite how nice Piper seemed, just knowing that she had the ability to charmspeak unnerved Nico. Especially now_.

As he entered the cabin, he glanced around and said stunned "It's all pink."

Jason and Piper broke out laughing.

"Well, duh." Piper retorted between her laughing fit.

Nico looked indignant, and tried to storm off, but Jason dragged him to Piper's room like he weighed nothing. Nico scowled, but complied obediently. Piper smirked, and they all sat on Piper's bunk.

To Nico's surprise, he enjoyed their company. Nico did admit he had developed a soft spot for Jason, who kept trying to get Nico to open up. It was extremely annoying, but reassuring to know that there was someone who cared about him to that extent. He was very tentative around Piper, but once Piper recounted her stories, the quests they've been on and how she grew as a person, Nico realised that he misjudged her. _Piper is actually a cool person. She was down to earth_, Nico noted mentally.

Hours had passed, and noon quickly approached.

"Let's go grab lunch. I'm starving." Piper suggested.

"Actually, I need to talk to Chiron about the shrines. I'll catch up with you later though." Jason said. He pecked Piper on the cheek, and left them alone to Nico's horror. Nico felt the air between them thicken, and tensed up.

"Let's go have some lunch first." Piper suggested. Lunch was quiet, and all that time eating, Nico tried to figure out how to avoid talking about his love life.

Piper was shepherding him back to the cabins.

He tried to compose himself. "Maybe I should get back to the infirmary, Will-"

Piper laughed, "No. I'm sure it'll be fine. Will can wait a few minutes more."

They entered the Aphrodite Cabin again. Piper made sure that it was completely empty before she began to talk.

"I think we need to straighten things up." She started.

"No, Jason or Annabeth or Percy didn't tell me. I saw you and it just clicked." Piper recounted.

Nico nodded slowly.

Piper continued, "I just wanted you to know that love is love. I should know that, of all people. And, well, you seemed so close to Jason that I felt bad that I misjudged you. I didn't really think too highly of you before, and I want to make it up to you."

Nico interjected, "It's fine, I'm used to it."

Piper looked at him angrily, "No. It's not fine. No one deserves that. I should have thought about that before judging you."

Her eyes started to tear up. She took a deep breath and continued.

"I guess, what I really want to say is that I'm behind you no matter what. I won't tell anyone, I swear on Styx."

Nico relaxed, and he gave Piper a shy smile. "Thanks."

"Nico. Um, if you ever need anything, I hope you know you can talk to me." Piper said shyly.

Nico's ears turned red, and he nodded 'yes' enthusiastically.

"Hazel still doesn't know, does she?" She asked.

"No. I- I didn't want her to…" Nico started, staring at the ground, willing himself not to tear up.

"She's a sweet, understanding girl. She will always love you." Piper said with so much sincerity that Nico wanted to believe her.

Nico nodded, and said quietly "Yeah, I hope so."

Once the discussion was over, Nico said formally, "It was nice to meet you Piper McLean."

Piper's eyes widened, and she replied "Nice to meet you too Nico diAngelo. We need to do this again."

Nico held out his hand for a handshake, but Piper rolled her eyes and pulled him into a comforting hug.

Nico smiled, and left the cabin with a piece of mind. He headed straight to the infirmary, to see Will.


	7. Chapter 6 Extra

**Author's Note:** _For slightly more Jason/Piper. Enjoy! :)_

"Jason, you can come in now. He's gone." Piper said knowingly.

"How did you know?" Jason asked, impressed.

"About what, you hiding, or about Nico?" Piper said with a smile.

"Both."

"About Nico, well I don't think he's realized how obvious it is, because he lights up when he's with Will. I didn't know about Percy though. But, I figured that if he was like that with Will, then something similar happened with Percy. That would explain the heavy atmosphere. Though, they seem to be on good terms now." She reasoned.

Jason nodded. "Now about me…?"

Piper smiled. "I took a guess. It seemed odd for you to leave him alone with me, so I figured something was up. That, and I may have glanced at my dagger during lunch, showing you crouched down in the bushes outside my cabin."

Jason shrugged.

"He's a good kid. He deserves happiness." Piper stated.

Jason nodded. "He'll be fine. If not, we're always there to support him."


	8. Chapter 7

Nico walked back to the infirmary with a smile. He really wanted to see Will again. He came to a sudden stop and bumped into a tree. A few campers nearby gave him a concerned look, but Nico shrugged it off. _Gods, that was embarrassing_ Nico thought his face flaming red. He walked into the infirmary and began scanning the room for Will. He saw Lou Ellen nudge Will, and they both waved him over. Nico nodded in their direction, and tried not to look too disappointed. He approached them cautiously, and once he was there he sort of stared at Lou awkwardly.

"Hello." He greeted her shyly.

Lou smirked at Will. She leaned into Will and whispered a quiet "He's adorable."

Will laughed. "Don't let him hear you." He warned with a big smile.

Nico looked at the two of them, and his face heated up. They were really close to each other. He shifted his feet around uneasily. "Um, are you guys, you know… dating?" He asked awkwardly.

Will's eyes widened and he started to say "No, no, no. It's not like that. We're just friends."

Lou laughed and interjected. "No. Not yet."

Will shot her a dark look to which Lou ignored.

"Okay…" Nico said slowly, furrowing his brow. _Did that mean that Lou Ellen liked Will?_

Lou Ellen smiled. "Would you like to hear some embarrassing stories about Dr. Sunshine over there?"

Will tried to laugh it off. "What stories? I haven't done anything embarrassing in front of you."

Will saw them both begin to walk away and tried to stop them.

Lou turned back and made a face at him. "Don't worry. You didn't do anything embarrassing right? Then you have nothing to worry about."

When Nico and Lou reached Nico's bed he gestured for her to sit down and Lou began telling Nico about how they first met.

"I hated him when he first showed up. He was arrogant, laid back, lazy and you could tell he was an Apollo kid with the golden hair and the tan. What made it worse were the Aphrodite kids."

"Oh look at Will, he's so hot" Lou mocked with disdain.

Nico smiled. "I didn't really like the Aphrodite kids either… but Piper is different." Nico felt the need to support his new friend.

Lou nodded understandingly. "So is Lacy and Mitchell. Drew I can't stand."

Lou began to rant about Drew for a while. She stopped herself and continued her story. "Sorry, I go off on things when I'm nervous."

"Anyways, it turns out that Will wasn't that a bad guy. We had a quest together and it turns out we had lots in common; we had similar classes, liked the same t.v. shows and bonded. Sure he seemed arrogant but turned out he was a decent guy. He really cares about people. I found out that he was a good healer on the quest. I broke my foot, and the way Will was freaking out about it you'd have thought I was dying." Lou chuckled.

"That sounds like Will." Nico agreed with a smile.

"So embarrassing stories…" Nico reminded her.

Lou chuckled. She moved closer to Nico and whispered "Once Will stops hovering around us. I promise."

Lou, like Will loved to talk, Nico noted. When he was with her, he found that it was best to just listen. Lou told him lots of stories of what went on at camp when he was away; Capture the Flag battles, Stoll pranks and gossip.

Meanwhile, Will was aware of two pairs of eyes staring at him, and tried to behave nonchalantly. To his disappointment, the infirmary was filling up and there was a lot of work to be done. "Why did Capture the Flag have to be today?" He muttered.

He began working on his patient, and glanced back at Nico who was having a good time with Lou. Nico was smiling and laughing along with Lou. It seemed that they were both exchanging stories. Will noticed that Nico's eyes lit up when talking to her and immediately felt his chest tightening.

Will wasn't sure if he should be glad that his two favourite people were getting close, or annoyed at the fact that they were too close. _How did Lou get Nico to open up so quickly?_ He put his worries aside and went back to work.

He rejoined them after working at top speed, and asked "Hey. What are you guys talking about?"

"Oh good. You're here. I was waiting so I didn't have to tell the same story twice. So, our dear friend Cecil, being Cecil decided to sneak into Katie's garden and steal some fruit. He ended up destroying the majority of the garden, and left a huge trail back to the Hermes Cabin. Katie stormed into the cabin, found Cecil and turned him into a tulip for a week" She said chuckling.

"So that's why I couldn't find him for a week. Who would have guessed?" He snickered.

Nico winced. He told them about how he got turned into corn by a crazy god in Rome and they all laughed. They continued exchanging stories until the sun started to set. Lou Ellen grabbed Will aside before she left to her cabin and whispered "If you mess this up, I'll take him away from you."

Will flushed. "I guess there's no point in me denying it any longer?" He asked.

Lou smiled. "Nope. I still get to spend a day with him when you lose your bet." She reminded him.

She gave Will a friendly punch on the shoulder, and made her way to the Hecate cabin.

Will sighed and returned to his favourite patient.


	9. Chapter 8

Nico woke up after a good night sleep. He yawned sleepily and blinked groggily. He was surprised not to be immediately greeted by Will. He took a look around the infirmary and noticed that it was still dark out. It took a few seconds for Nico's eyes to get adjusted to the dark. Will was sleeping on his chair by Nico's bed, holding his hand tightly. Nico never seemed to understand why Will's presence always seemed to reassure him and chase away his nightmares. He gently slipped out of Will's grip and went outside on a walk. He carefully avoided the patrol harpies and headed towards Cabin Thirteen.

Nico was tired of being in the infirmary, although he had good company. He wanted to move about, he wanted to swordfight, to play capture the flag. His body was tired of resting and although he acknowledged that he wasn't at full strength he felt the need to move. He headed towards his cabin, pulled out his sword and went into the forest. He stayed in the shadows, careful to avoid unwanted attention and raised a skeleton. The skeleton bowed in front of Nico, and Nico grunted.

"You'll do I guess. Fight me." He commanded.

The skeleton bowed in acknowledgement, took the toy sword from Nico and charged towards him. The target was easy to overcome, but Nico was just glad to be able to move with only one goal in mind. He rapidly disarmed the skeleton.

"Again." He commanded handing the skeleton back his sword.

"As you wish." The skeleton replied.

This carried on for another half an hour or so. He stopped and stretched his limbs. He heard someone slow clapping from behind him and was so startled that he tripped over the skeleton. He saw Will Solace try to supress his laughter as he helped Nico to his feet. He angrily dismissed the skeleton and glared at Will. Will just laughed louder, his blue eyes twinkling with amusement. "I know that I'm considered extraordinarily handsome but who would have thought you would fall for me so hard Death Boy?" Will joked.

Nico scoffed and rolled his eyes, but his face started to turn red. He was hoping that Will couldn't tell in the dark. "Come on Solace, I'd rather die first." He returned.

Will chuckled. "Well, that can be arranged. Killing with kindness is my specialty" He deadpanned.

"All joking aside, I was wondering where you ran off to. Disobeying your doctor's orders, huh?" Will asked narrowing his eyes. His voice was quieter than usual and Nico sensed the edge in his voice.

Will let out a deep sigh and hugged Nico. "I'm glad you're alright, but next time you go for a midnight stroll leave a note." Will said firmly.

He let Nico go reluctantly. Nico felt his knees buckle and sat on the ground.

"Sorry. I forgot you don't like to be touched." Will replied sitting on the grass next to him.

Nico buried his head in his head between his knees. "It's not your fault. I was just surprised. Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to go for a walk. I was planning on sneaking back before you noticed." He replied sheepishly.

"Well, since we're here-" Will said standing up. He held out his hand and helped Nico up to his feet. He tugged at Nico's hand gently and said "Come on, there's something I want to show you."

Nico nodded and let Will lead him toward the lake. They sat down at the beach, with Will still holding Nico's hand.

"What are we doing here exactly?" Nico asked.

"Just humour me." Will replied with a warm smile.

Nico tried very hard not to think about how close they were. It didn't help that Will didn't let go of his hand.

"Ah!" Will exclaimed. He gestured at the sunrise in the distance with his free hand. "It's starting." Will said with a smile.

Nico followed his hand and watched as the dark sky started to turn pink. They both sat there entranced until the sunrise was over.

Will stole a glance at Nico and smiled brightly. "I'm glad you liked that. I wasn't sure if you've seen a sunrise before. Well, I've seen loads of sunrises but I'm still amazed." Will prattled on happily.

"You know I was in your dad's chariot, right?" Nico bragged.

"Though, I admit watching it from the ground is completely different." Nico admitted with a smile.

They stayed like that for a while, both of them too lazy to move. Nico told Will about his experience meeting Apollo when a familiar blonde came out of the woods.

"Hey Nico. Will." He said with an amused smile.

Nico shuffled away from Will. "Oh. Hi Jason. What are you doing up so early?"

"I was going to see the sunrise with Piper by the lake tomorrow so I was just scouting the place. I guess this is the ideal date spot." Jason replied with a smirk.

Nico gave Jason a death glare, but Jason just ignored it. _He's become so tame, I can't even see him as intimidating anymore_ Jason mused.

"I want to talk to you for a minute." Nico said getting up and dragging Jason away.

Will nodded in agreement. "I'll see you later then." Will said before heading towards the infirmary.

"Jason. Don't." Nico warned.

"Calm down DiAngelo. I'm only teasing. I promise. But you need to tell me about your love life. Will moves fast, a romantic date already." He gave a low whistle.

"It wasn't a date." Nico replied immediately.

_Poor Will_. Jason ruffled Nico's hair affectionately.

"I bet I can skip more stones than you" Jason challenged.

"You're on blondie." Nico replied with a smile.


	10. Chapter 9 - The Date Part One

Lou Ellen woke up bright and early on a warm summer morning. She smiled, and excitedly got out of bed. She went through her morning routine listening to her favourite classical music as she put on her best (and only) summer dress. She skipped into the Aphrodite cabin and knocked impatiently.

Drew came up to the door with bed hair and bags under her eyes, and gave Lou her best scowl. "What's your problem Lou? Why are you even here?" She scratched her hair tiredly and yawned.

Lou gave her a cool smile "Darling Drew, if you don't continue to provoke me, and call Piper I promise that I won't turn you into a rat by accident. We wouldn't want Will to see you like that, now, would we?"

Drew's eyes widened and she retreated into the cabin by pushing Piper out of her bunk.

"Get up! Someone's here to see you." Drew snapped, staying away from Lou as she pushed Piper in Lou's general direction. Drew scurried back into the safety of her bunk.

"Hey Piper, sorry to wake you up, but I need a favour from the **head** of the Aphrodite Cabin" Lou said with a bright smile.

Piper, looking as beautiful as always gave her a smile as Lou whispered her favour. Piper nodded along and by the end of Lou's spiel, Piper's eyes twinkled mischievously.

"We will do all we can to help." Piper said brightly.

Once Lou got Piper`s help she went into the Mess Hall eager to fill up her stomach. Getting ready for the day was a longer process than she thought, and she needed lots of energy to stick to her plans. She went straight to the Apollo table and sat next to Will and Nico as per usual.

"Whoa, Lou you look…" Nico trailed off blushing.

Lou was wearing a yellow summer dress accented with lace netting by her feet and flowers creeping up on the sides of her dress. She had a matching floral clutch to match and wore yellow flats. She had her hair put up in an up-do accented with fresh flowers that highlighted her black hair. She wore some makeup that accentuated her cheekbones and some lip gloss. With the help of the Aphrodite kids – she looked stunning.

Will snorted as he dug into his eggs and Lou kicked him underneath the table. Will scowled and ate his breakfast in silence.

Lou smiled warmly. "Thank you. Today's going to be an exciting day! As soon as we eat breakfast, we'll be on our way!"

She made a face at Will and, with in high spirits enjoyed her breakfast. Nico looked at Will and Lou, noticed their awkwardness and decided not to comment any further.

After breakfast, Will dragged Lou away into the forest while Nico went off to the cabin to prepare for his day.

When he was sure that they were out of earshot he hissed "Lou! What are you doing?"

Lou narrowed her eyes. "WILL SOLACE! Are you backing out of our deal? Nico is MINE today."

Will sighed, "I know that. I mean what's up with this?" He said gesturing to all of her.

Lou radiated indignation and Will knew as soon as he said those words he was asking for trouble.

"Are you saying that I don't look good? Are you that petty? Or are you that jealous that Nico thought I looked good?… honestly Will I thought that you-"

"What? Lou! No, it's not that! It's just- you look great but if you are doing this all to get back at me for something that I did somehow…" Will started trying to calm his best friend down.

Lou snorted. "Not everything is about you Solace. Don't worry I won't eat him up, and we'll be back before night. _Okay_ _mom_?"

Will sighed dejectedly. "Alright fine, you win. But um… you really do look nice, Lou." He finished off weakly, blushing slightly.

"I'm sorry, I got jealous…" He muttered talking more to the grass than to her.

Lou's cheeks reddened and skipped towards Nico's cabin quickly.


End file.
